There will be no shortage of opportunities this weekend to qualify for big events. We have 25 featured tourneys this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and all but one or two each day are games that can land you a spot in lucrative tournaments down the road.
The action starts on Friday when all our features are Pick & Prays.
This is your final weekend in which to qualify for the July 15 William Moore Classic—a $500-per entry, on-site tournament at Delaware Park on July 15. For $59, you can win a Delaware seat in this 1-per-10 Pick & Pray. If on Friday, you don’t succeed, you can try, try again on Saturday and Sunday.
Another constant on this weekend’s schedules are qualifiers to the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown, which serves as the final leg of the 2023 Tourney Triple here at HorseTourneys. The qualifier entry fee on Friday (and Saturday and Sunday as well) is $147, with one of every 20 entrants winning a $2,500 spot in the all-cash event that gives participants the happy chore of making a mythical $2 win-and-place selection on every race at Saratoga and Del Mar on August 5-6.
On all three days of the weekend, you can also compete for a $1,000 berth in the Haskell Challenge, which is an online-only contest set for July 22 at Xpressbet and 4NJBets. Friday’s Pick & Pray play-in carries an entry fee of $79, and one of every 15 will prosper.
The same $79 entry fee/$1,000 seat scenario is in play for Friday’s qualifier to the Saratoga Challenge. That one takes place on August 12 and can be played either on-track at Saratoga or online at NYRABets.
All the talk so far has been about qualifiers…but who doesn’t love a good cash game? We have one in Friday’s HT Tour battle—our $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. You can jump in for $190.
Over at HorsePlayers on Friday, you get two more of this weekend’s tentpole attractions— the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
The Friday NHC qualifier is an always-popular $75 Pick & Pray that guarantees two seats to the March 2024 bash. The winning ratio is 1-per-143.
For $500, you can test your skill in a Low Ratio Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge Pick & Pray. At least one $10,000 seat will be handed out no matter what. The winning ratio in this one comes out to 1-per-23.
The 10 featured-tourney races on Friday are the 6th through 10th from Belmont; the 5th through 7th at Monmouth; and the 8th and 9th from Horseshoe Indianapolis.
On Saturday (and Sunday), the vast majority of our marquee games will be operated in Live Format.
The richest tourney of the weekend is Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed No Limit game. Be prepared to hand over $350 before taking a seat at this table.
The day’s lone Pick & Pray is our $10,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks Pick & Pray, which calls for an entry fee of $1,150. Total entries are capped at 20, with the winner earning 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place contestant grabbing the remaining 10 percent. If we happen to reach the maximum entry count of 20, the total purse will top $20,000.
Saturday is your one chance this weekend to win a spot to the July 29-30 Del Mar Summer Challenge. One of every 20 entrants will pull in a sizable $6,500 package ($6,000 entry fee plus $500 travel stipend) for the high-end live-bankroll tournament.
As noted earlier, we’ll have qualifiers on Saturday for the Spa & Surf Showdown, the Haskell Challenge, the Saratoga Challenge and the William Moore Classic at Delaware. The same entry fees and winning ratios in place for Friday apply here as well, but unlike Friday’s games, all of these will be Live-format tussles.
At HorsePlayers, there are 1-per-65, Live-format qualifiers to the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge on the menu.
The NHC opportunity is a “regular,” $165 qualifier with two seats certain.
The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge skirmish costs $179 to play, and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be won.
The 12 contest races for Saturday will focus on Horseshoe Indianapolis, where it’s Indiana Derby Day and Belmont Park, where it’s Belmont Derby Day. The 12 races are the 7th through 12th from Horseshoe Indy and the 6th through 11th at Belmont. Closing time is slated for 3:30 pm ET.
Nine more featured tourneys are on the Sunday agenda.
Your chance to qualify on Sunday for the NHC exists here at HorseTourneys, and it’s the only Pick & Pray of the day. It’s another “regular,” 1-per-65 game that guarantees two spots. The entry fee is $165.
Another guaranteed qualifier on Sunday is that for the October 21-22 The BIG One at Laurel Park, which has an all-cash prize pool in 2024. The winner earns a spot in October’s small-field, big-money contest…plus hotel, welcome party, track transfers and full food and open-bar amenities at the track…plus $500 for your travel. The entry fee is $500, and the runner up gets a $500 consolation refund.
Sunday’s HT Tour competition is our $20,000 Guaranteed cash tourney. Entries are $250 apiece.
The other Sunday featured cash tourney is our $7,000 Guaranteed Big Bucks get together. Payouts go just to the top three finishers on a 70/20/10 basis. A maximum of 20 entries (at $1,150 each) will be accepted—and if we get that many, the purse will eclipse $20,000.
For the third straight day, you can play for a spot in the $400,000 Guaranteed Spa & Surf Showdown, the Haskell Challenge, the Saratoga Challenge and the William Moore Classic at Delaware Park.
At HorsePlayers, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the featured-tourney spotlight to itself.
It’s a $500 Low-Ratio Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier (same game as on Friday except that this one is in Live format). The winning ratio is 1-per-23, and at least one $10,000 seat will definitely be awarded regardless of participation.
We hope the conclusion of “Fourth of July week” has more fireworks in store for you. Good luck!